Born on January 20, 1894, Walter Piston exhibited musical talent at a young age, performing on the violin and piano (his keyboard proficiency was self-taught), but music remained in the background during his early adult years: performing in cafés and theaters was a source of income while he pursued studies in architecture at the Massachusetts Normal Art School. During the first World War, Piston enlisted with the Navy band as a saxophonist. Afterward, he seems to have had a more focused interest in music, studying at Harvard University under the tutelage of Archibald D. Davison. He was graduated summa cum laude in 1924, the eldest graduate in his class by some nine years. After two years of profitable instruction in France with Nadia Boulanger and Paul Dukas, Piston returned to Boston and accepted a spot on the faculty at his alma mater, a position he kept until 1960. His students over the years included Leonard Bernstein, Elliot Carter, and Harold Shapero. He enjoyed a fabulous relationship with several American orchestras, most notably the Boston Symphony under Serge Koussevitsky (every American composer’s "best friend"), Charles Munch, and Erich Leinsdorf, and he received many honors throughout his life, including two Pulitzer Prizes (for his Third and Seventh Symphonies). His most popular work remains his only ballet score, The Incredible Flutist, written in 1938 for Arthur Fiedler and Hans Wiener. In addition to his music, Walter Piston wrote several valuable textbooks: Harmony, Principles of Harmonic Analysis, Counterpoint, and Orchestration, which remain in use today. His wife of more than fifty years, the painter Kathryn Nason (whom he met at Harvard in 1920), died in February 1976. Their marriage seems to have been happy, although childless, and Walter Piston died later that year on November 12, shortly after completing his enigmatic yet profound last work, the Concerto for String Quartet, Winds, and Percussion.